Mercer University
East Tennessee State
Softball Defeated By ETSU, 11-7, In Series Finale
4/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – Despite a four-run, seventh inning rally, the Mercer University softball team fell to East Tennessee State, 11-7, in the series finale at Sikes Field on Sunday, April 17. The Buccaneers took the Southern Conference series win, 2-1.
FINAL – ETSU 11, Mercer 7
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bucs (14-14, 5-4) brought their bats to the yard in the series finale, hitting four home runs to score a season-high 11 runs on 15 hits against the Bears (19-26, 2-7). ETSU started the game with back-to-back long balls by Bethany Cowert and Danielle Knoetze off of Mercer starting pitcher Megan Bilgri, who took the loss and dropped to 5-4 in the circle. Cowert would pace the Bucs with a 3-for-4 performance, including five runs batted in and another home run in the seventh inning.
Trailing 11-3 entering the home half of the seventh, Mercer rallied with four runs on four hits, but to no avail. The rally started as junior Taylor Miller and freshman Shaila Warren bookended a walk by sophomore Meghan Rud with a pair of singles, loading the bases with no outs. Senior Natalie Shiver, freshman Lindsay Boynton and junior Maxine Rodriguez all picked up RBIs in the frame.
Mercer tossed all five pitchers in the contest, including junior Jill McElderry, who tossed a team-high 2.1 innings. ETSU's Lindsey Fadnek earned the win with a complete game and improved to 8-3.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Miller was 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored, one RBI and one stolen base to fill the box score. The junior had at least one hit in all three games this weekend and it was her second multi-hit performance of the series. Her RBI came on a single to right field in the fifth inning, cutting ETSU's lead to 10-2.
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MERCER STAT OF THE DAY
ETSU is the only SoCon program with two series wins over Mercer since the Bears joined the league in 2015.
NOTABLES
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Warren continued her recent hot streak at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one run scored. She had five hits in the series and raised her batting average to .306, marking the first time since Feb. 28 that she's been above .300.
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Shiver picked up a pair of RBIs in the loss and became the first Bear to reach 30 on the season. She leads the team with 31.
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Sunday's loss was only the fifth time this season Mercer has scored five or more runs and failed to win. Their seven runs ties a season-high when walking away with the loss.
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Rud tied a career-high with three bases on balls, hitting the mark for the fifth time in her career.
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Freshman Ginny Hearn logged a career-high 1.2 innings in the circle and notched her first career strikeout in the process.
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All five Mercer pitchers saw action on Sunday, marking the first time the Bears have used more than three pitchers in a game this season.
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Rodriguez went 2-for-4 at the plate to pick up her third multi-hit game of her career.
RECORD UPDATE
With Sunday's loss, Mercer drops to 19-26 overall and 2-7 in the SoCon. The Bears remain the all-time series leader against ETSU, 17-10.
UP NEXT
Mercer hits the road to take on Chattanooga (22-21, 4-5 SoCon) in Chattanooga, Tenn. on April 23-24. The Mocs are the two-time defending SoCon champions and own a 23-12 record in the all-time series with the Bears. Mercer won the regular season series against Chattanooga in 2015 before falling twice to the Mocs in the SoCon Tournament.
STAY SOCIAL
Follow @MercerUSoftball on Twitter and Instagram or visit the team's official Facebook page for up-to-date information on the Bears' softball program.
